Brayden Jackman
To Me
Jul 12 2014 (Saturday – First Email from the Provo West MTC)
Well hello. It feels somewhat strange to be writing this letter
(e-mail). I am actually in the MTC. It is almost surreal at times.
I wrote a letter to you on my second night here, but I doubt that you
have received it yet.
They throw you right into the thick of things here. My language
instructor has spoken to us in almost entirely Spanish since we got here.
So far, I can say a basic prayer and bear a simple testimony in Spanish,
as well as carry on a more or less coherent conversation.
Yesterday (Friday), we taught our first lesson in Spanish. My
companion, Elder Erickson, and I met with a "non-member" (member
pretending to be a non-member who only speaks Spanish) and attempted to teach
him about our relationship with God and how to pray. We struggled to
convey our message in broken Spanish but the general idea came across and the
lesson went well. We were supposed to teach a twenty minute lesson but ended up
talking to him for forty. We were actually able to more or less converse with
him.
Our housing is in the old Wyview apartment complex. Elder Erickson
and I share our own apartment with our own shower, fridge, couch, spare
bedroom, kitchen, etc... No Tree of Life for me. (pause to look at Dad)
Elder Erickson is older than I am. He is 21. He has an associate’s
degree in general science and worked to pay for his own mission before he left.
He played the trumpet in high school and college and plays the piano.
He is rather tall and a pretty good athlete. So far, we have played
basketball and volleyball during our gym times. I lost a shoot-out to a
sister missionary in Elimination twice. Haha...? I also unintentionally
stuffed a poor, short sister missionary during volleyball. (Yes, she was
on the other team)
I wanted to thank the girls for their letters to me and thank everyone
for the "greenie" package you sent me. It was great to have
something come for me and it was fun to see what was inside.
Every morning we wake up at 6:30. Elder Erickson and I both have the
same alarm clock. I take first shower, and we head out to breakfast at
seven. We have a 3 hour block for personal, companion, and language study
starting at 7:30. After this we go back to our apartment and change into our
gym clothes. Our gyms on the West campus are three giant "bubbles.
They look like giant, white, round circus tents. A revolving door takes
you inside. After gym we go to lunch for a half hour and then start another
three hour block of lessons, this time with the teacher who speaks only in
Spanish. This block is devoted to language and grammar study. These
lessons are typically based off of missionary vocabulary (how to pray, bear
testimony, greet someone, basic gospel material, etc...) After this we go
to dinner (the earliest dinner time of all of the districts, 4:30) and then
back for another three hour block. For now, this block is when we teach
our fake investigator, Javier. After this it is usually around 9:00-9:30.
We then head back to our rooms, study, plan for what to study the next
day, write in our journals, and similar activities. We are in bed by
10:30, but I am pretty sure neither Elder Erickson nor I have gotten to sleep
before 11:30. It is a little bit early, but then so is 6:30 a.m.
I hope you all know how much I love you all and how much I appreciate
your support.
Love,
Brayden (Elder Jackman)
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